Tea-chest and attachment



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1. l

C. TOOHEY. TEA CHEST AND ATTACHMENT.

No. 525,511. 1 Patented sept. 25, 1894.

V(NevMoelel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

o. TooHBY. TBA CHEST AND `AT'IACEMENT. No; 526,511. Patented Sept. 25, 1894.

` To @ZZ whom t may concern.:

to time at will.

r UNITED' STATES f PATENT OFFICE.

CORNELIUS TOOHEY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

TEA-CH EST AND `ATTACH M ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent N0. 526,511, dated September 25, 1894.

Appleman Elea my 21,1894. f

Be it known that I, CORNELIUS TOOHEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Tea-Chests and Attachments; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in chests or packages for the shipment of tea and other delicate goods, and in a means for converting the original package into a caddy or device from which the contents may be retailed without disturbing the original package.

It consists in certain details of construe tion which will be more `fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which y y Figure l is a vertical sectional view of the package, ready for shipment. Fig. 2 is a `view of the package prepared for use in removing the contents. Fig. 3 is a separate `view of the frame and shield forming a part of the original package. Fig. 4 is a View of the removable door attachment. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the package, a part of the side of the chest being broken away showing the bag or lining.

Theobject of my invention is to provide a chest or package for the transportation of tea, coffee, or other aromatic or delicate substances which it isnecessary to seal hermetically during transportation, and a means for transforming said package into a containing caddy,` with an attachment by which the contents are exposed, to be removed from time The first portion of my invention relates to the construction of the chest or box itself.

The chest A is made of wood in the usual manner, preferably having one side made a little thicker, and this side stops short of the bottom of the box or has a out away portion at that point, and grooves or channels a are made in the edges which face each other above and below the opening.

B is a sliding door having a corresponding tongue and channel adapted to tit the channel and tongue in the edges of the opening, so that the door may be slid into place from one side and complete the closure of the box Serial No. 518,238. (No model.)

at this side. This door is then secured by a nail or nails, or other fastening, so that this side of the box is practically as solid and complete as any other.

The exterior of the box is covered with paper and matting and secured with rattans in the usual way, after the box has been filled. Within the box is the bag or lining which is composed of three thicknesses, first, an outer metallized paper C, so-called, which is impervi- Ous to moisture or air by reason of a coating of metal upon the exterior surface. Within this is a second layer C formed of cloth or other fibrous iiexible material having sufficient toughness to prevent the rupture of the paper formingthe outer coating. A third layer C2, of anysuitable lining paper, is applied within the tough fibrous layer, and the three layers are secured together by any suitable adhesive material. The whole `is then formed on suitable molds into a bag which is adapted to exactly fit within the box A previously described. By reason of the outer metallized surface, the bag is rendered impervious to moisture or air, While at the same time no metal comes in contact with the delicate interior contents by reason of the paper lining. l These two, however, would not be sufficient to prevent accident, which is liable to occur to packages of this sort in transportation, and the rupture of the paper or metal will expose the contents so that they will become deteriorated. By reason of the intermediate tough fibrous layer,

I add the element of strength which is necessary to prevent any rupture of the outer and inner layers, and the whole forms a very light and serviceable lining for the box. The top of the bag is left open and extends a short distance above the top of the box until after the package has been properly filled, a sti cardboard is placed over the contents, and the upwardly projecting fiaps are then folded down and pasted upon this inserted top, and a layer of this composite material is pasted over all, so that the whole package is hermetically sealed. Before the bag is filled, however, I place in the bottom of the bag a shield or frame made of any material, preferably not metal, which consists of a fiatbottom adapted to tit exactly within the bottom of thebag, to which it is pasted or secured. This bottom serves to stiften and hold the IOO neath side, so that it will notbe depressed byi reason of the pressure of the contents of the chest which are afterward filled in upon and around it, but the upper surface is left smooth,A

and the inclination is such that when the box stands squarely upon its bottom, any tea or other contents of the box will slide off of this inclined roof as fast as the contents are withdrawn from below. The open side of this frame or shield, which is of the largest area, abuts against the side of the box which has the sliding door B previously described, and coincides with this door opening, while the smaller opening caused by the inclined roof E2 is presented toward the interior of the box.

When the chest is filled with tea or other substance, the contents being shaken down will pass beneath the roof E2 and will fill all of the space within the chamber thus formed, so that when the chest is filled this part E2 will be supported by that portion of the contents beneath it, and will not be subjected to any undue pressure by that which is above, consequently, will not be in danger of lbeing pressed out of shape.

From this construction it will be seen that every chest or package contains within itself, the interior mechanism necessary to transform it into a caddy when the exterior door is afixed, from which the contents are to be sold, and it is at the same time a complete hermetically sealed chest, suitable for transportation.

When the chest is to be used for the purpose of selling its contents at retail, the outer coverings and matting being removed, the nail or other fastening of the sliding door B is removed, and the chest, lying upon its back with the front uppermost, the door is withdrawn, sliding in the groove or channel and tongue as before described. With a sharp knife, the inner lining of the chest is now cut along the outline of the opening thus exposed, and the door or device for transforming it intoa caddy is attached. This device consists of a case having a bottom F, closed segmental ends G, with an opening made upon the curved outer face, and another one through the vertical opposite side.

g is a tongue and groove formed upon the upper edge of the vertical side and adapted to lit into the groove and tongue from which the slide door B has been removed, and the device is simply slipped into place and held there by these tongues and grooves.

A plateH extends across the front upper portion of the device, a sufficient distance from the upper tongue, so that it extends a little way up the side of the box, and assists to .steady and hold the attachment in place. The lower part and bottom of this device extends down below the lower edge of the opening, so that the bottom of the device will rest upon the table or surface upon which the box is supported. The interior bottom F of the device runs flush from the entrance to the Yrear edge so that it coincides with the bottom of 'the opening into 'the box and allows the lscoop by which the tea is to be removed to be inserted smoothly without striking any obstruction. Within this exterior Ycasing is pivoted a curved door I which is adapted to follow the interior of the curved surface when it is turned around its pivot pins, so that when drawn down its front edge closes upon the front vedge of the segmental opening, and forms a closure for the caddy. When opened it is rotated about its pivot pin, and turns backward a short distance into the interior of the box A, and beneath the roof portion E2 of the shield. This device is first attached to the box, the box lying on its back with the opening upward. It will afterward be set down upon the bottom, and a portion of the tea, which is beneath the inclined roof E2, will flow out into the bottom of this supplemental chamber, and this will leave sufficient room for the curved door to be rotated backward into the space within the shield. At the same time, the rear edge of this door is sufficiently above the bottom of the -receptacle'to allow the tea to iiow out beneath it upon the bottom F by gravitation as fast as it has been removed by the scoop, and the whole contents of the chest can thus be removed without any further openings being made, or any transfer from the chest to a containing vessel, thus preventing deterioration by exposure or handling.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-.

.1. A shipping package or chest,consisting of an exterior-casing, an interiorgthree-ply bag composed of an exterior layerof metallized paper, an interior layer of lining paper and an intermediate exible iibrous layer whereby the exterior and interior layers are supported and prevented from rupture, said exterior, interior and intermediate layers being cemented together, and the top of the bag being adapted to be hermetically sealed.

2. A shipping package or chest consisting of an exterior wooden casing, an interior bag tted thereto, and composed of an exterior layer of nietallized paper impervious to moisture or air, an interior lining layer to form con-v tact with the contents of the package, and an intermediate layer of iiexible fibrous material all cemented together, a tongued opening IOD IZO

made in the bottom of one side of the outer case, a sliding door adapted to fit said open= ing and complete the casing during'the transportation, said door being removable to expose the side of the bag and admit of its being cut out to the form of theopening.

3. A shipping package or box consisting of a wooden exterior case, a bag formed to lit said case, and composed of material impervious to moisture and resistant to rupture, an opening made near the bottom of one side of the box, and a door slidable therein whereby the package is closed for shipment, and removable to expose the lining back, and allow the side of it to be cut away when the pack age is to be opened.

4:. A shipping package or box consisting of an exterior wooden box, an interior impervious bag or lining fitting therein, and a frame or shield fitting in the bottom thereof and having an open side adjacent to and coinciding with the corresponding opening made in the bottom of one side of the box, said package containing within itself all the necessary interior mechanism to transform itinto a grocers caddy.

5. A shipping package consisting of an exterior wooden box having an opening upon one side near the bottom and a sliding movable door fitting therein and completing the side of the box, an interior impervious bag fitting within the box, a frame and shield fitted within the bottom of the bag having the opening beneath the shield coinciding with the opening in the side of the box whereby communication is made with the interior of the package by removing the sliding door and cutting away the lining bag in lines coincident with the sides of the opening in the box and the shield.

6. A shipping package consisting of an exterior wooden box with an impervious lining flttedthereto, a frame or shield fitting the bottom of the box within the lining, an opening made in the side of the box near the bottom, coinciding with the opening beneath the shield and having tongues or grooves formed on its upper and lower edges with a removable sliding door, an attachment consisting of a segmental casing having tongues and grooves at the top and bottom of its vertical rear side, and a pivoted segmental door turnable about its pivots to open or close the opening in the segmental front of the casing.

7. A shipping package consisting of a box having an interior impervious bag and a frame or shield fitted in the bottom thereof whereby it contains within itself all necessary interior mechanism to transform it into a caddy, an opening made near the bottom of one side with a sliding closing door which is removed when the package is to be transformed :into a caddy, and the side of the bag cut away to correspond with the opening in the box, a segmental casing having anopening made through the segmental front, and a corresponding opening through the vertical rear side, a segmental door pivoted to rotate within the casing to open or close the same, and tongues and grooves formed at the top and bottom of the vertical rear side of the casing adapted to fit the corresponding tongues or grooves in the upper and lower edges of the opening in the box.

8. A shipping package consisting of an exterior box with an opening in the lower part of one side and a removable attachment therefor through which the contents are withdrawn, a bag forming a lining for the box, a shield tixed within the bag adjacent to the opening in the box, having a base or floor secured to and covering the bottomof the bag, and forming a support and a protection to prevent the tearing of the bag by the utensil used for removing the contents when the package is opened.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CORNELIUS TOOHEY. 

